


Distracted By A Shiny Thing

by SamuelJames



Category: Life on Mars (UK), Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-18
Updated: 2010-03-18
Packaged: 2017-10-11 23:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamuelJames/pseuds/SamuelJames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen walks into a bar and meets Chris Skelton. Just a glimpse at their characters, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distracted By A Shiny Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Distracted By A Shiny Thing  
> Characters: Owen Harper (TW) and Chris Skelton (LoM)  
> Rating: 15+  
> Summary: Owen walks into a bar and meets Chris Skelton. Just a glimpse at their characters, really.  
> Notes: Written for A Ficathon Walks Into A Bar challenge on LiveJournal  
> Disclaimer: Torchwood and Life On Mars belong to their creators and the BBC. No copyright infringement is intended.  
> Archiving Information: Please do not archive elsewhere on the net.

The Railway Arms, Owen doesn't much care what type of pub it is. He needs a drink. He 's got no money but hopefully he can cadge a drink off someone. There are only a few blokes in the pub and a barman idly dusting the shelves and checking the optics. He fixes Owen with a look but says nothing. Owen approaches the only person who looks remotely his age.

"Fancy a game of darts?"

"Alright."

"I'm Owen."

"Chris."

He shakes Chris' hand. Chris takes his pint to the table nearest the dartboard. Owen throws first, not the best score in the world but decent. Chris is next, matches Owen's score.

"Aren't you getting a drink?"

"No money," says Owen. "I was hoping to win one off you."

Chris smiles, "game's not over yet." Still he calls out to the barman, "Nelson another pint please."

"Cheers, mate."

One of Owen's darts misses the board entirely and Chris gently mocks him. Wherever or whenever he is Owen could have ended up somewhere a lot worse.

There are three case files that Jack makes every new Torchwood employee read.

_Annie Casey who disappeared after moving an 'harmless' alien umbrella type device._  
Mark Quinn who contracted a fatal virus after using an alien mug for his tea.  
Tina Jones who died after taking an item from quarantine when nothing had happened after a week. 

Owen really should have known better than to touch the silver sparkling sphere on Jack's desk but it looked harmless. Hopefully by now Tosh would be figuring out some way of tracking him. "What year is this?"

Chris rolls his eyes, "not another one. You're not from Hyde by any chance?"

Owen is confused. "What?"

"Me boss, from Hyde. Drives the Guv mad but he didn't know the year neither."

Maybe someone else did come here, an alien or something. "I'm from London," he doesn't add that he's also not from this year.

"It's 1973."

"Oh." Could be worse, could have ended up in medieval times or in some war. Playing darts with someone who'll buy him beer is getting off pretty lightly. "How come your boss doesn't know what year it is?"

"Not sure," says Chris. He admires Sam, likes him even but he's definitely a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Still the Guv can't argue with Sam's solve rate. It's freaky sometimes how Sam thinks like a criminal. "He had a crash on his first day, maybe messed with his memory or something."

"So what do you do for fun around here?"

Chris shrugs, "this is it pretty much. Usually go out with the team after work, maybe darts or something. The Guv, the other CID lads are me mates you know. I go on dates sometimes but I don't really understand women."

Some things are a constant thinks Owen unless Chris is trying to hint at something else. He's a nice enough guy but a little naive for Owen's taste. Shit, being bi is probably a huge deal here. Oh well, it's not like he's here looking for a shag anyway. Owen throws again, his aim is getting better. "Let me tell you a secret, Chris, women will always be a mystery. They are just as up for it as we are but pretend they're not. They want you to understand them without having to tell you anything and years from now men will still be having the same conversation we're having now."

He's heading to the gents when Winston stops him.

"This is for you?"

"Thanks." It's a wallet and a warrant card. Owen looks at it, DC Harper, what the hell? "Where'd you get this?"

Nelson rolls his eyes, Owen is just as Jack described him. "Jack Harkness, left it here a week ago. He wasn't sure exactly what happened but apparently you'll need these for the next eighteen months. Your new boss should be here soon, Jack's arranged it all."

Fuck, damn Jack. How was he supposed to pass as a copper? Surely a familiarity with The Sweeney and The Bill weren't going to cut it?


End file.
